No Arabic abstract
Galaxies in Hickson Compact Group 91 (HCG 91) were observed with the WiFeS integral field spectrograph as part of our ongoing campaign targeting the ionized gas physics and kinematics inside star forming members of compact groups. Here, we report the discovery of HII regions with abundance and kinematic offsets in the otherwise unremarkable star forming spiral HCG 91c. The optical emission line analysis of this galaxy reveals that at least three HII regions harbor an oxygen abundance ~0.15 dex lower than expected from their immediate surroundings and from the abundance gradient present in the inner regions of HCG 91c. The same star forming regions are also associated with a small kinematic offset in the form of a lag of 5-10 km/s with respect to the local circular rotation of the gas. HI observations of HCG 91 from the Very Large Array and broadband optical images from Pan-STARRS suggest that HCG 91c is caught early in its interaction with the other members of HCG 91. We discuss different scenarios to explain the origin of the peculiar star forming regions detected with WiFeS, and show that evidence point towards infalling and collapsing extra-planar gas clouds at the disk-halo interface, possibly as a consequence of long-range gravitational perturbations of HCG 91c from the other group members. As such, HCG 91c provides evidence that some of the perturbations possibly associated with the early phase of galaxy evolution in compact groups impact the star forming disk locally, and on sub-kpc scales.
Deep $B$ and $R$ images of three Hickson Compact Groups, HCG 79, HCG 88 and HCG 95, were analyzed using a new wavelet technic to measure possible intra-group diffuse light present in these systems. The method used, OV_WAV, is a wavelet technic particularly suitable to detect low-surface brightness extended structures, down to a $S/N = 0.1$ per pixel, which corresponds to a 5-$sigma$-detection level in wavelet space. The three groups studied are in different evolutionary stages, as can be judged by their very different fractions of the total light contained in their intra-group halos: $46pm11$% for HCG 79 and $11pm26$% for HCG 95, in the $B$ band, and HCG 88 had no component detected down to a limiting surface brightness of $29.1 B mag arcsec^{-2}$. For HCG 95 the intra-group light is red, similar to the mean colors of the group galaxies themselves, suggesting that it is formed by an old population with no significant on-going star formation. For HCG 79, however, the intra-group material has significantly bluer color than the mean color of the group galaxies, suggesting that the diffuse light may, at least in part, come from stripping of dwarf galaxies which dissolved into the group potential well.
This continuing study of intragroup light in compact groups of galaxies aims to establish new constraints to models of formation and evolution of galaxy groups, specially of compact groups, which are a key part in the evolution of larger structures, such as clusters. In this paper we present three additional groups (HCG 15, 35 and 51) using deep wide field $B$ and $R$ band images observed with the LAICA camera at the 3.5m telescope at the Calar Alto observatory (CAHA). This instrument provides us with very stable flatfielding, a mandatory condition for reliably measuring intragroup diffuse light. The images were analyzed with the OV_WAV package, a wavelet technique that allows us to uncover the intragroup component in an unprecedented way. We have detected that 19, 15 and 26% of the total light of HCG 15, 35 and 51, respectively, is in the diffuse component, with colours that are compatible with old stellar populations and with mean surface brightness that can be as low as $28.4 {rm B mag arcsec^{-2}}$. Dynamical masses, crossing times and mass to light ratios were recalculated using the new group parameters. Also tidal features were analyzed using the wavelet technique.
We present the photometric and kinematic characterization of two groups, USGC U268 and USGC U376 located in different regions of the Leo cloud. U268, composed of 10 catalogued members and 11 new added members, has a small fraction (~24%) of early-type galaxies (ETGs). U376 has 16 plus 8 new added members, with ~38% of ETGs. We find the presence of significant substructures in both groups suggesting that they are likely accreting galaxies. U268 is located in a more loose environment than U376. For each member galaxy, broad band integrated and surface photometry have been obtained in far-UV and near-UV with GALEX, and in u,g, r, i, z (SDSS) bands. H_alpha imaging and 2D high resolution kinematical data have been obtained using PUMA Scanning Fabry-Perot interferometer at the 2.12 m telescope in San Pedro Martir, (Baja California, Mexico). We improved the galaxy classification and we detected morphological and kinematical distortions that may be connected to either on-going and/or past interaction/accretion events or environmental induced secular evolution. U268 appears more active than U376, with a large fraction of galaxies showing interaction signatures (60% vs. 13%). The presence of bars among late-type galaxies is ~10% in U268 and ~$29% in U376. The cumulative distribution of (FUV - NUV) colours of galaxies in U268 is significantly different than that in U376 with galaxies in U268 bluer than those in U376. In the (FUV-r vs. M_r) and (NUV-r vs. M_r) planes no members of U268 are found in the `red sequence, even early-type galaxies lie in the `blue sequence or in the `green valley. Most (80%) of the early-type members in U376 inhabits the `red sequence, a large fraction of galaxies, of different morphological types, are located in the `green valley, while the `blue sequence is under-populated with respect to U268.
In an effort to better understand the formation of galaxy groups, we examine the kinematics of a large sample of spectroscopically confirmed X-ray galaxy groups in the Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) with a high sampling of galaxy group members up to $z=1$. We compare our results with predictions from the cosmological hydrodynamical simulation of {sc Horizon-AGN}. Using a phase-space analysis of dynamics of groups with halo masses of $M_{mathrm{200c}}sim 10^{12.6}-10^{14.50}M_odot$, we show that the brightest group galaxies (BGG) in low mass galaxy groups ($M_{mathrm{200c}}<2 times 10^{13} M_odot$) have larger proper motions relative to the group velocity dispersion than high mass groups. The dispersion in the ratio of the BGG proper velocity to the velocity dispersion of the group, $sigma_{mathrm{BGG}}/sigma_{group}$, is on average $1.48 pm 0.13$ for low mass groups and $1.01 pm 0.09$ for high mass groups. A comparative analysis of the {sc Horizon-AGN} simulation reveals a similar increase in the spread of peculiar velocities of BGGs with decreasing group mass, though consistency in the amplitude, shape, and mode of the BGG peculiar velocity distribution is only achieved for high mass groups. The groups hosting a BGG with a large peculiar velocity are more likely to be offset from the $L_x-sigma_{v}$ relation; this is probably because the peculiar motion of the BGG is influenced by the accretion of new members.
I present observations of the Hickson Compact Group 88 (HCG88) obtained during the commissioning of a new 28-inch telescope at the Wise Observatory. This galaxy group was advertised to be non-interacting, or to be in a very early interaction stage, but this is not the case. The observations reported here were done using a luminance filter, essentially a very broad R filter, reaching a low surface brightness level of about 26 mag per square arcsec. Additional observations were obtained in a narrow spectral band approximately centered on the rest-frame H-alpha line from the group. Contrary to previous studies, my observations show that at least two of the major galaxies have had significant interactions in the past, although probably not between themselves. I report the discovery of a faint extended tail emerging from the brightest of the group galaxies, severe isophote twisting and possible outer shells around another galaxy, and map the HII regions in all the galaxies.